This book, first published in 1637, was the first full-length treatise on suicide published in English. Originally published in 1988 as part of the
Tavistock Classics in the History of Psychiatry
series, the introduction by Michael MacDonald places the book in the context of attitudes to suicide in its day, as well as showing some of the ways that this theological book is also a study of the psychology and sociology of suicide. It also discusses the evolution of the law of suicide and analyses the religious beliefs held about it at the time, before going on to look John Sym himself and the structure of his book.